The Best Hunting Rifle

No cartridge, or gun is greatly superior to all others.
Using an ordinary, reasonably good, hunting rifle, or the latest
short-magnum-with-hard-to-find-expensive-ammunition will
seldom change a hunt's outcome. The hunter is the most
important component.

Assuming a reasonable gun, bullet, range... Do your part, put the 2nd most important component, a proper bullet, into a deer's "boiler room", and you will have your venison.

The hunting rifles and ammunition made by established companies today are good enough to do the job. It doesn't always have to be a center-fire rifle, it could be a shotgun, muzzleloader, or bow.

Pictured: TC Contender Carbine
7-30 Waters caliber

You! What you hunt, where you hunt, how you hunt,
these are the important considerations.

Your best hunting rifle should have a versatile variable power scope, but not too much magnification or you may loose a deer at close range.

In some places the .22 caliber centerfires are legal, but I wouldn't choose one. I often use a .243 and believe most of the .24, .25, .26 calibers are great choices for whitetail. Always use the heavier bullets in these smaller calibers, not the light explosive bullets which are designed for small varmints.

Larger caliber hunting rifles can be used for deer, and for bigger game. If you choose a standard .270, .280, .30 caliber, or a similar magnum caliber. These rifles need to be a little heavier. Say eight or nine pounds with scope... As the power goes up, the gun weight should also increase. This will help reduce the "felt" recoil.

With these larger rounds you also need to carefully select the bullets used. You need a more lightly constructed bullet for deer, and a heaver tougher bullet for the bigger tougher animals. You'll have to adjust your sights/scope each time you switch ammunition.

Some believe the best hunting rifle should be very powerful in case a marginal shot is taken. More power can punch through bone and muscle better. I would not be proud of taking a marginal shot however. More powerful rifles are also more difficult to shoot well. You'll have to decide for yourself.

In dense woods where your shots will be short, you can use any action: pump, lever, semi-auto, bolt... you don't need super accuracy at woods ranges. You also don't need super high velocity and flat trajectory at shorter ranges. You can use some of the lever-action rounds like the old .30-30, .32, .35... for deer, the .444, .450, .45-70... for deer or bigger game.

Your best hunting rifle could be a muzzleloader. A muzzleloader is slow to load, but the most modern are very effective. You could possibly use the same gun for both muzzleloading, and rifle season. But most hunters will opt for a center-fire rifle during regular gun season.

Hunting in the woods a shotgun slug is another option. Consider adding sights to your shotgun, a slug barrel and scope, or even buying a new shotgun. You may be able to use one shotgun for most or all your hunting.

Handguns are another possibility, but difficult to shoot well. Ordinary handguns are not really adequate for deer. The .44 magnum was the most powerful handgun until a few years ago. It is fine for close shots, but does not equal the old .30-30 rifle.

The scoped single shot handguns which fire rifle cartridges are another subject. They can have more range than most handguns. They are still not great long range tools for a responsible hunter. If you are into them, I hope you already know enough about guns that you don't need my "two-cents"...

You could consider a bow! Bow-hunting is a challenge, but the rewards are great, and you often have a much longer season. Bow-hunting made me a better hunter.

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